From The Detroit News | By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein
DETROIT, March 30, 2023 ~ Name one product you can have installed in your house that will literally pay for itself over time, adds value to the home and will provide additional year-round comfort in your cozy nest. What we are talking about is correctly specified and installed thermal insulation.
It pays for itself in a number of ways. It can lengthen the life of air heating and cooling equipment, it reduces energy consumption thus reducing utility bills, it may include financial incentives from utilities and government entities, and it will add value to the property. Wow!
According to the North American Insulation Manufacturer’s Association (NAIMA), 90% of this country’s nearly 130 million homes are under insulated and the Department of Energy, estimates that up to 80 million homes need to be re-insulated.
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March 19, 2023 ~ Chuck “The Inside Guy” Breidenstein and Ken “The Outside Guy” Calverly offer the knowledge and resources you need to make the home of your dreams a reality. Catch them every Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon on 760 WJR.
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The confusion arises when people either hire the wrong contractor to specify and carry out the installation, they choose the wrong product for a specific application, or they see it as a DIY opportunity they don’t fully understand.
The basic types of insulation readily available in the marketplace include spray foam, blanket batts and rolls, blown product, and sheet goods including cellulose and foam.
There are also a number of more exotic products that typically claim a greener footprint, such as shredded denim and cotton, aerogel and spun, recycled plastics. The issue becomes one of availability and return on investment, ROI.
Spray foams are commonly available as closed cell, open cell and injection foam. Closed cell, which has an excellent R-Value per inch of installed material and does not transmit moisture, and open cell, which is a softer, lower R-value, material are both used to insulate rim or bond joists which is that space in the wood floor frame perimeter directly above the foundation.
Both of these might also be applied to sidewalls in new home construction, and both also function as air infiltration barriers.
Injection foam is applied in existing wall cavities and may include concrete block walls as well as wood or steel frames.
According to Ron Stead, owner of BlownInsulationMI.com in Ortonville, injection foam can be expertly used to reinsulate older homes, even if they already have a batt insulation in the wall cavities.
Blanket batts are typically found in spaces between framing members, whether in attics or sidewalls. Sometimes friction fit, but more often attached to a craft paper or aluminum foil backer and stapled across the frame face, they are the most popular new home insulating product in the country.
All-too often installed by untrained professionals or DIY’ers, this material may be poorly installed such that a lot of air and insulation gaps exist.
Cellulose is one of the most common blown products available along with shredded rock wool or fiberglass. It typically consists of a high percentage of recycled content treated with fungicides and flame retardants. It can be a great product for use in attics for both new and retrofit applications.
A dense-pack cellulose product is also used to retro-fit sidewalls by Ace and Sons Insulation in Southgate.
Professionals like those mentioned will generally provide before and after thermal imaging to demonstrate both the initial need for insulation product and results of the completed installation.
Installing additional cellulose in existing attic spaces can also be a tricky issue if care is not taken to both preserve the intake vents at the lower edge of the roof and carry the insulation full or near full depth to the exterior face of the perimeter walls.
Use of special baffles expertly installed is a primary requisite in this application.
There are also a few areas of concern with exterior wall insulation that demand experience and expertise.
One potential issue is making sure that the installed material is of the correct density and does not negatively affect the interior wall finish by bowing it in.
Since most of this product is installed from outside, expertly accessing the wall cavities by drilling through brick mortar joints or removing siding properly for reinstallation upon completion is a big potential issue.
Is the siding correctly reinstalled and are any drilled holes properly concealed?
The real trick to proper thermal insulation product, performance and installation is to deal with someone the Guys trust. Professionals like those you’ll find at InsideOutsideGuys.com.
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For housing advice and more, listen to “The Inside Outside Guys” every Saturday and Sunday on 760 WJR from 10 a.m. to noon, or contact them at InsideOutsideGuys.com.
